This invention relates to a ball storage and dispensing device that can be used for storing and dispensing balls or ball-shaped articles. (To avoid unnecessary verbiage, the term xe2x80x9cballxe2x80x9d as used in this specification and the claims that follow include balls and ball-shaped or nearly ball-shaped articles.) This invention is primarily intended for mounting onto golf carts to store and dispense golf balls. However, this invention could be used to store and dispense many other objects, such as baseballs or marbles. This invention also relates to a method of manufacture of a ball storage and dispensing device.
Many devices have been developed for storing and dispensing golf balls and other balls or ball-shaped articles. Some of these devices have open bottoms which are smaller than the balls to be stored but sufficiently large to permit a user""s finger to be inserted through the open bottom and push the lowermost ball in the tube out through a dispensing aperture in the wall of the tube. However, the known devices are expensive to manufacture and many include moving parts, such as springs, which limit their useful lives. There is a need for ball storage and dispensers which are inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install, easy to use, rugged and durable.
An object of this invention is to provide a ball storage and dispensing device which has one or more, and preferably all, of the attributes of being inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install, easy to use, rugged and durable. Another object of this invention is to provide a ball storage and dispensing device which can be used to store balls having diameters within a reasonable tolerance range so that it may be used, for example, to store and dispense golf balls ranging from the small, European size to oversize balls such as the well-known Top-Flite Magna golf balls.
A ball storage and dispensing device in accordance with this invention comprises a one-piece, hollow cylindrical storage tube or cartridge for holding a stack of balls, the tube having an internal diameter throughout substantially its entire length that is larger than the largest diameter ball with which the device is intended to be used.
Further in accordance with this invention, means are provided for mounting the tube in a vertical or nearly vertical orientation. The lower end of the tube is formed to have a non-circular shape with no open dimension sufficiently large to permit the smallest of the balls to be stored to fall downwardly out of the tube. However, the lower end of the tube is sufficiently large to permit a user to insert a finger through the bottom opening. These conditions may be readily obtained by indenting the side wall of the tube at the lower end of the tube. A ball-dispensing aperture is provided in the wall of the tube near its open bottom, preferably spaced from the open bottom by a distance which is a fraction of the diameter of any ball to be stored in the tube. The ball-dispensing aperture is preferably significantly larger than the diameter of any ball to be stored so that it is easy for a user to press upwardly on the lowermost ball in the tube and push that ball out through the ball-dispensing aperture.
Many simple mounting arrangements could be provided to clamp or otherwise connect the tube to a support member so that the tube is mounted in an upright, vertical or nearly vertical, orientation. It is presently preferred to provide screw-receiving bores in the wall of the tube to receive self-tapping screws used to mount the tube, for example, on a golf cart window frame. One or more access openings can be provided to enable access to the screw heads by a suitable screw driver or other tool.
As for the method of manufacture, a thermoplastic tube can be cut to a desired length and drilled as necessary to provide the ball-dispensing aperture and bores and openings for a mounting arrangement. Either before or after drilling the tube, the lower end of the tube is heated, as by the use of a heat gun, causing a portion of the lower end of the tube to become pliable. The pliable portion is then pressed against a forming member to form an indentation in the wall of the tube to restrict the size of the bottom opening of the tube.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.